The invention is in the field of electrical component picking and placing. More particularly, the invention deals with interchangeable tips or nozzles for the vacuum spindle of a pick and place head and to an apparatus for facilitating tip changing.
It is known to provide a tool holder with replacement tips or nozzles at a location which is remote from a vacuum spindle and to move the spindle in X and Y to the holder, locate an empty pocket in the holder, deposit a tip therein from the spindle, reposition the spindle in X and Y to another pocket of the holder and fetch a replacement tip therefrom, and reposition the vacuum spindle to a pick and place working area. Thus, valuable time is lost in the steps required to change tips by means of this prior art.
It is also known, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,208 to provide an individual nozzle changer at each of several stations which are addressable by a vacuum spindle, by repositioning the spindle in X and Y, in order that a nozzle may be automatically attached to or detached from the spindle. Again, valuable time is lost in the steps required to change tips or nozzles.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a pick and place spindle with interchangeable tips housed in a supply which is movable with the spindle in X and Y, with the tips being selectively separable from the supply and attachable to the spindle while the spindle is moving orthogonally in X and Y.
It is another object of the invention to provide that each tip is housed in a corresponding chamber of the supply, and that the spindle is extendable and retractable through a selected supply chamber during removal and replacement, respectively, of the corresponding tip. This eliminates the requirement and time expenditure for searching for a vacant chamber into which the component can be placed, as well as the need for a separate X-Y reorientation of the spindle relative to the supply in order to return the tip to the supply.
These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from a study of the complete disclosure.